Holding and locating fixture for carbide throw-away inserts

ABSTRACT

This invention consists of a metal casting mounted on a grinder, the casting is adapted to hold air-operated mechanism in the form of a longitudinally-disposed piston and rod adapted to provide support for a carbide throw-away insert by means of other mechanism, as will hereinafter be described. This air piston and its associated parts is located in the left-hand portion of the aforesaid casting. The casting is provided with an opening between its left-hand portion and its right-hand portion for the reception of the carbide throw-away insert which is held in place by means of an anvil on the end of structure of the internal mechanism of the device in which the aforesaid piston rod is located. The aforesaid carbide throw-away insert is also held in place for grinding by means of mechanism on the end of a locator clamp rod that is longitudinally disposed in the right-hand portion of the aforesaid metal casting. This invention is activated to firmly hold the often-mentioned carbide throw-away insert by means of both air and oil systems, as will hereinafter be described in this specification.

United States Patent Geonnotti [76] Inventor: Anthony R. Geonnotti, 144

' Westbrook Rd, Feasterville, Pa.

[22] Filed: July 27, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 275,977

[52] US. Cl. 51/218 R, 51/237 R, 51/277 [51] Int. Cl B24b 3/34 [58] Field of Search ..51/2l6 ND,216R,216T,

51/217 R, 217 A, 217 T, 218 R, 218 A, 218

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,027,693 4/1962 Armitage 11217 X 3,040,486 6/1962 Balsiger 51/236 3,434,248 3/1969 Martin 51/236 X 3,715,841 2/1973 Schnellman et al. 5l/l65.88

Primary ExaminerAl Lawrence Smith Assistant ExaminerNicholas P. Godici Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Paul & Paul June 25, 1974 5 7 ABSTRACT This invention consists of a metal casting mounted on a grinder, the casting is adapted to hold air-operated mechanism in the form of a longitudinally-disposed piston and rod adapted to provide support for a carbide throw-away insert by means of other mechanism, as will hereinafter be described. This air piston and its associated parts is located in the left-hand portion of the aforesaid casting. The casting is provided with an opening between its left-hand portion and its righthand portion for the reception of the carbide throwaway insert which is held in place by means of an anvil on the end of structure of the internal mechanism of the device in which the aforesaid piston rod is located.

- The aforesaid carbide throw-away insert is also held in place for grinding by means of mechanism on the end of a locator clamp rod that is longitudinally disposed in the right-hand portion of the aforesaid metal casting. This invention is activated to firmly hold the often-mentioned carbide throw-away insert by means of both air and oil systems, as will hereinafter be described in this specification.

4 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures "I l l 24 73 20 i l 9| 1 I as PATENTED JUNZS $9M SHEET N (If 7 fig: 5

PATENTEWunzsmu sum 6 or 7 PATENTEDJUNZS 1974 I 8 1 8' 647 sum 7 0f 7 LOAD POSITION 74 INSERT LOADED "#:F INSERT LOCATED AND CLAMPED GRIND POSITION, LOCATOR BACK i5 8, 5, 76 m U gj I 72 UNCLAMP/ UNLOAD HOLDING AND LOCATING FIXTURE FOR CARBIDE THROW-AWAY INSERTS This invention relates to machine tools; more particularly, to that machine tool known in the art as a grinder; still more particularly, to a fixture adapted to hold and locate carbide throw-away inserts prior to a grinding operation on a grinder.

Although I personally call this invention a locator the device is actually a holding and locating fixture as a fixture is known in the art as a device that broadly is used for holding work to be ground or machined, and this invention both holds and locates the carbide insert in the desired position on a grinder. For this reason this invention shall hereinafter be known in this specification and its appended claims as a Holding and Locating Fixture for Carbide Throwaway Inserts.

For the benefit of those less experienced in the art it should now be understood that a carbide insert is defined by those considered to be authorities in the machine tool art as A molded sintered carbide piece to be clamped to a tool holder or shank for performing various machining operations." A carbide insert can be of any size and configuration, such as round, square, triangular etc. A carbide insert is used until a cutting edge is dull, then it is rotated and used until its next edge is also dull, and thus it is used until all of the cutting edges are dull. The insert is then removed from the machine tool and placed in a device on a grinder and all of its edges are ground sharp. An insert can only take so many grindings before it is too small for use and thus must be thrown away, thus its name of carbide throw-away insert.

One of the problems of using carbide throw-away inserts is that of providing an economical and practical way of locating (and obviously holding) a carbide insert on a grinder in the desired position for the grinding of its faces, each face of which must be rotated to the desired position for grinding before the insert is of any practical use. This has, until the event of this invention, been a slow and laborious process by even the best of tool grinders using any and all available tools, fixtures and the like. Obviously, the operation has been a costly one to the machine shop who must pass the cost on to others. This is particularly distressing in the machine tool business where competition is so keen.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a holding and locating fixture for carbide throw-away inserts that will permit the grinding of any configurated insert in a minimum of time and with a minimum of effort.

Another object of this invention is to provide a holding and locating fixture for carbide throw-away inserts that can be operated by a person having a minimum of experience in the art.

Another object of this invention is to provide a holding and locating fixture for carbide throw-away inserts that is operated by means of the air and oil systems of the grinder on which the invention is mounted.

Another object of this invention is to provide a holding and locating fixture for carbide throw-away inserts that holds and locates the inserts in position on a grinder where they can be seen by the operator at all times during the grinding operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a holding and locating fixture for carbide throw-away inserts 2 that can be modified to fit nearly any grinder. as will hereinafter be described.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a holding and locating fixture for carbide throw-away inserts of the character herein described that has a minimum number of parts most of which are contained in structure so as to prevent their deterioration by dirt or the like that accumulates in most machine shops and other places where such machine tools are found.

Other and further objects and advantages of this novel invention will no doubt appear to those experienced in the art as a reading of this specification and its appended claims proceeds and the accompanying drawings are examined in connection therewith.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is a pictorial view of this invention mounted on a grinder and ready for use. Only the actual invention is shown in solid black lines.

FIG. 2 is an end view of this invention as indicated by the arrowed line and number 2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top view of the center of this invention holding and locating a carbide insert in a position to be sharpened, the grinding wheel is shown in phantom lines. This view is taken with one standing at the left end of the machine.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinally disposed sectional view of this invention, taken substantially along line 44 of FIG. 1, and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of this invention, taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 4, and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of this invention, taken substantially along line 6-6 of FIG. 4, and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of this invention, taken substantially along line 7-7 of FIG. 4, and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of this invention, taken substantially along line 8-8 of FIG. 4, and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIG. 9 is a pictorial view of the body of this invention as viewed from the back of the grinding wheel looking out toward the front of the machine.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the left-hand portion of FIG. 4.

FIGS. 10 to and including FIG. 15 are side views of the actual carbide insert holding mechanism and carbide insert in different cycles of operation of this invention. The carbide insert is shown in phantom lines for reasons of clarity.

In the different views of this invention and its parts, like details are indicated by like reference numbers throughout the drawings and in this specification. The reference number 20 indicates this invention in its entirety in FIGS. 1 and 4 of the accompanying drawings. The capital letter G indicates the grinder in its entirety .while the capital letters EM indicate the electric motor of the grinder.

Construction of the invention Direction of ones attention first to FIG. 1 of the drawings indicates that this invention consists of a casting 21 that is shown by itself in FIG. 9 of the aforesaid drawings. The aforesaid casting 21 embodies a base 22 having a longitudinally disposed rod supporting structure 23 and an end opposed and spaced longitudinally disposed locator clamp rod supporting structure 24 which is integral with the electric motor housing 25. This electric motor rotates the carbide throw-away insert, as will hereinafter be described in that portion of this invention that deals with the operation of this invention.

Continuing to look at FIG. 1 of the drawings it will be realized that while the just-described casting 21 is not an actual part of this invention, as will be realized when the description of the actual operation of this device is read later on in this specification, it is a holding structure for the holder and locator and for this reason is shown in solid black lines as a separate figure in FIG. of the drawings. This often-mentioned casting 21 is suitably secured by any desired means to the grinding machine, as will be fully understood by those experienced in the art. The grinding machine is not a part of this invention and therefore no claims are being made for the same.

Still looking at FIG. 1 of the drawings it will be seen that this novel invention is located on the grinder which is indicated by the capital letter G below the control panel 26 and above the operator clamp on and OK switch 27. The grinding wheel is indicated by the reference number 28.

Directing ones attention now to the alreadymentioned FIG. 4 of the drawings it will be seen that a gear case clamp 29, a supporting collar 30, an elongated ring 31, and a clamp end cap 32 are all secured together by means of four longitudinally disposed bolts 33. The only views in which the justmentioned bolts appear are FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. For reasons of clarity the above-mentioned parts indicated by the reference numbers 30, 31, and 32 are not indicated in FIG. 1 nor are the demarkation lines of these parts drawn into this FIG. 1. In fact, this part of the construction of this invention can vary and two or more of the parts can be combined and or substituted for other parts without affecting this invention, as will be understood by those experienced in the art.

As one continues to examine FIG. 4 of the drawings it will be noted that the aforesaid supporting structure 23 contains a plurality of ball bearings 35 which rotatably support the locator spindle 36 in which rotably fits the locator clamp rod 37 whose right hand end is provided with a ball bearing 38 that fits into the bearing housing 39 which is bolted to the piston assembly 40. Longitudinal adjustment of the aforesaid locator clamp rod 37 is obtained by means of the knurled adjusting knob 41 and its adjusting screw 42 which obviously controls the longitudinal movement of the aforesaid piston assembly 40 and the locator clamp rod 37 to which it is secured as has been previously described. An L-shaped opening 43 is located in the aforesaid supporting collar 30 while an alike L-shaped opening 44 is located in the aforesaid clamp end cap 32. The purpose of these two L-shaped openings is for the reception of one end of the two oil lines through which oil flows for the movement of the aforesaid piston assembly 40. For the rear movement or return of the piston, the oil enters the first-mentioned L-shaped opening 43 while for the forward movement of the same piston, the oil enters the second mentioned L-shaped opening 44. No oil lines are shown in any of the views of the accompanying drawings for reasons of clarity. The oil lines are of course connected to the oil pressure system of the aforesaid grinder G.

Further examination of FIG. 4 of the drawings shows that a gear 45 encompasses and is secured to the aforesaid locator spindle 36. The gear 45 is in mesh with gear 46 which is secured to one end of the line shaft 47. Line shaft 47 is located in and projects out of the elongated and longitudinally disposed opening 48 in the aforesaid base 22 of the aforesaid casting 21. This opening 48 is clearly shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings. Going back now to the often-mentioned FIG. 4 of the drawings it will be seen that the right hand end of the aforesaid locator spindle 36 is provided with an elongated recess 49 in the right hand end of the aforesaid locator spindle 36 for the slidable reception of the key 50 that is located in and projects but through each side of the aforesaid locator clamp rod 37 in order to permit the clamp rod to rotate when necessary even though the clamp rod may have moved longitudinally, as will hereinafter be described.

Looking now at the left hand end of the oftenmentioned locator clamp rod 37 it will be seen that a part, which I personally call the clamp pin 51, has its shank held in the center of the end of the locator clamp rod by means of the headless set screw 52. A seal 53 and sealing ring 54 in the left hand end of the aforesaid rod supporting structure 23 of this invention completes this part of the assembly of the aforesaid holding and locating fixture whose construction I am now describmg.

Directing ones attention now to the mechanism on the left hand side of FIG. 4 and to FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings it will be seen that the aforesaid locator clamp rod supporting structure 24 contains two sets of equally spaced and parallel ball bearings 55 and 56 that encompass the workhead spindle 57 which I sometimes call the locator spindle. This spindle 57 is provided with a gear 58 that is in mesh with the gear 59 which is located on the left hand end of the aforesaid line shaft 47 of this invention. Although it' is not shown in any of the views of the accompanying drawings, another gear is also in mesh with the aforesaid gear 58. The other gear is rotated by the electric motor EM which is shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings. A piston rod 60 is slidably located in the aforesaid spindle 57. The right hand end of the piston rod 60 is screwed into the left hand end of the plunger 61 while the left hand end of the aforesaid piston rod 60 passes through the center of the seal 62 and then terminates in the center of the air piston 63. Going back now to the aforesaid spindle 57, it will be seen that a cam 64, which controls the movement of the work head as the spindle revolves, is secured to the spindle 57 by means of the headless set screw 65. It will also be seen that a part which I call a rotary air valve 66 encompasses the often-mentioned spindle 57. The just-mentioned air valve 66 is provided with an opening 67 in which air under pressure enters through a tube from a source on the grinder G to push the aforesaid piston 63 and its rod 60 forward, while air under pressure will enter the opening 68 and passageway 69 to push the aforesaid piston 63 and its rod backward, as will be described in the operation of this novel invention.

Continuing to look at the drawing of the aforesaid spindle 57 it will be seen that the front or right end of this spindle is smaller in diameter than the rest of the spindle and is indicated in both FIGS. 4 and 10 by the reference number 70. This portion 70 of the spindle 57 is provided with an elongated opening 71 for the reception of the dowel pin 72 that drives the locator from the piston, as will be understood by anyone experienced in the mechanical arts since the aforesaid dowel pin 72 also passes through not only plunger 61 but also through both the locator housing 73 and the locator 74. A snap ring 75 is used to secure the segments of the cator together since this locator is made up of a plurality of pieces, as one can see by looking at FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings.

The configuration of the inside of the locator 74 will depend upon the configuration of the carbide insert that is to be ground. An anvil, which is actually a pin 76 having a shank 77, is pressed into an opening in the right hand end of the aforesaid right hand end of the spindle 70 and completes the assembly of the major parts of this invention with the exception of the mentioning of the two end seals 78 and 79 which are located one in each end of the aforesaid locator clamp rod supporting structure 24 of this invention.

Before describing the actual operation of this novel invention attention is called to the fact that not every detail of the invention has been called for in this specification. Those parts not described are considered to be obvious to those experienced in the art. Also, attention is called to the fact that it is absolutely necessary that the bottom segment 80 of the aforesaid locator 74 project out beyond the other segments of the locator in order to provide a seat for the carbide insert 81 that is to be ground on the grinder G. It must also be realized that I consider this invention to be a locator for the carbide throw-away inserts although I realize that it is of course necessary to firmly hold an insert as it is being located on the grinder in relation to the aforesaid grinding wheel 28. For this reason I do not describe the actual attachment of this invention to the grinder G nor the connecting up of the necessary oil and air lines that extend from the grinder to this invention as this work is all obvious to those experienced in the art and is well understood by anyone who is going to operate the grinder. I

The mechanism for rotating the aforesaid clamp rod 37 and its attached clamp pin 51 is the aforesaid electric motor EM which also rotates the aforesaid spindle 57 at the same R.P.M. As has been previously described, the aforesaid spindle 57 is connected through mechanism to the aforesaid anvil 76. From the above statement it will be understood that when the aforesaid carbide throw-away insert 81 is held between and by the aforesaid clamp pin 51 and the anvil 76, the carbide insert will be rotated for the grinding of all of its cutting edges, as will be understood by those experienced in the art. The aforesaid electric motor EM is activated by a switch on the grinder or the rotation can be accomplished by means of a hand wheel. Neither the switch nor the hand wheel are shown in any of the views of the accompanying drawings.

Method of operation of this invention Directing ones attention now to FIG. 11 of the accompanying drawings it will be seen that the locator 74 and the clamp pin 51 have been placed in the load position by means of the proper turning of the aforesaid op erator clamp on and off switch 27 that islocated on the right side of the grinder G just below this invention. The aforesaid carbide throw-away insert 81 is now placed on top of the aforesaid bottom segment 80 of the aforesaid locator 74, as one can see by looking at FIG. 12 of the drawings which illustrates this step of the use of this invention which is called insert loaded."

Looking now at FIG. 13 which shows the aforesaid carbide insert 81 in a located and clamped position it will be understood that the operator of the grinder G has now turned the often-mentioned clamp on and off switch into the desired position for the forward movement of the aforesaid clamp pin 51 toward the anvil 76 with the aforesaid carbide insert 81 at exactly the same instant. Further operation of the aforesaid operator clamp on and off switch 27 'now causes the locator 74 to move longitudinally so that the insert may now be ground by the operation of the aforesaid grinding wheel 28. This last described movement of the aforesaid carbide insert 81 and the clamp pin 51 is fully illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. FIG. 15 illustrates the positions of the aforesaid clamp pin 51 when drawn back into their supporting mechanism housing by means of the proper operation of the aforesaid operator clamp on and off switch 27 by the man who is using this invention. Obviously, this last operation is not done until the aforesaid carbide insert 81 has had its faces ground as desired for when the clamp pin 51 draws back away from the aforesaid carbide insert 81, the insert will drop down out of the holder thus completing the cycle of operation of this invention. Obviously, this operation can be very fast and a large number of the aforesaid carbide inserts 81 can be ground by an efficient operator in a minimum of time and effort with the use of this invention.

This invention is subject to any and all changes in detail and design and construction and or modifications that one may care to make in so long as the changes and or modifications all fall within the scope and intent of the appended claims.

What I now claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for grinding throw-away inserts cornprising:

a. a structural frame having a longitudinal principal axis;

b. an anvil element stationarily mounted on said frame on said longitudinal axis and having a face concentric on and transverse to said axis conditioned to abut one surface of said inserts;

c. a plunger element slidably mounted on said longitudinal axis toward said anvil element and having a face conditioned to abut a surface of said inserts opposite said one surface; and

d. a locator element slidably mounted on said longitudinal axis, said locator forming a housing surrounding said anvil and having an opening larger than and concentric with said anvil element and adapted to hold said inserts concentric on said axis, said opening having walls longitudinally slanting toward said anvil element, said insert being mounted on said locator at said opening, said plunger element being forced against said insert toward said anvil, and ineans for withdrawing said locator over said anvil when said insert is concentrically mounted on said axis between said plunger element and said anvil element.

2. Apparatus as decribed in claim 1 wherein said housing of said locator element has a lowerledge extending beyond all other walls of said housing, said ledge maintaining inserts in position for said piston ele ment properly to abut said insert.

c. motive means for withdrawing said shaft from said anvil, whereby said opening is positioned between said plunger and said anvil when inserts are positioned therein, and said opening is withdrawn around and behind said anvil when inserts are locked between said anvil and said plunger.

4. Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said slanting walls of said housing are centered about said axis on all transverse cross sections of said housing. 

1. Apparatus for grinding throw-away inserts comprising: a. a structural frame having a longitudinal principal axis; b. an anvil element stationarily mounted on said frame on said longitudinal axis and having a face concentric on and transverse to said axis conditioned to abut one surface of said inserts; c. a plunger element slidably mounted on said longitudinal axis toward said anvil element and having a face conditioned to abut a surface of said inserts opposite said one surface; and d. a locator element slidably mounted on said longitudinal axis, said locator forming a housing surrounding said anvil and having an opening larger than and concentric with said anvil element and adapted to hold said inserts concentric on said axis, said opening having walls longitudinally slanting toward said anvil element, said insert being mounted on said locator at said opening, said plunger element being forced against said insert toward said anvil, and means for withdrawing said locator over said anvil when said insert is concentrically mounted on said axis between said plunger element and said anvil element.
 2. Apparatus as decribed in claim 1 wherein said housing of said locator element has a lower ledge extending beyond all other walls of said housing, said ledge maintaining inserts in position for said piston element properly to abut said insert.
 3. Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said means for withdrawing said locator includes: a. a shaft located on said axis on the side of said anvil opposite said plunger element; b. means for coupling said shaft to said housing; and c. motive means for withdrawing said shaft from said anvil, whereby said opening is positioned between said plunger and said anvil when inserts are positioned therein, and said opening is withdrawn around and behind said anvil when inserts are locked between said anvil and said plunger.
 4. Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said slanting walls of said housing are centered about said axis on all transverse cross sections of said housing. 